Communications

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

A copy of FBI file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A, which per FBI relates to the deceased John C. Boger.

I am a member of the news media and request classifcation as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the fles online and make them available through the non-proft Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualifed because it also had “frm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category. As such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://foiaonline.regulations.gov:443/foia/action/public/view/request?objectId=090004d2817bb8ee) * Tracking Number: NARA-NGC-2018-000249 * Requester Name: Emma Best * Date Submitted: 01/22/2018 * Request Status: Submitted * Description: To Whom It May Concern: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records: A copy of FBI file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A, which per FBI relates to the deceased John C. Boger. I am a member of the news media and request classifcation as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the fles online and make them available through the non-proft Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualifed because it also had “frm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Actrequest to the National Archives and Records Administration, viaFOIA@nara.gov.

Because you have requested access to historically permanent federalrecords, we have forwarded your FOIA request, received in our officeJanuary 23, 2018, to our Office of Research Services, Special Access andFOIA staff, for further review and handling. As a result, you will beassigned a tracking number by that office.

If you would like to follow up with that office directly, please contactthem at the address below, or electronically via email.

Thank you for contacting the National Archives and please visit our websiteat www.archives.gov/foia for further information. Please also visit ourmain website, www.archives.gov, to learn more about the many excitingresources we offer the public.

Below is an export of the submitted request information for the FOIArequest NARA-NGC-2018-000249.

- *Name and Address* - First Name: Emma - Middle Initial: - Last Name: Best - Organization: - Mailing Address Location: United States/U.S. Territories - Address Line 1: MuckRock News, 411A Highland Ave <https://maps.google.com/?q=411A+Highland+Ave&entry=gmail&source=g> - Address Line 2: DEPT MR 47786 - City: Somerville - State/Province: MA - Zip/Postal Code: 02144 - *Contact Information* - E-mail Address: requests@muckrock.com - Phone Number: - Fax Number: - *Agency and Fee Information* - Assigned Agency: NGC - Office of General Counsel - Will Pay Up To: $0.00 - *Description* - To Whom It May Concern: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records: A copyof FBI file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A, which per FBI relates to the deceased John C. Boger. I am a member of the news media and request classifcationas such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an openarrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation ofpublication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the fles online and make them available through the non-proft Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the governmentitself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of thisparticular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’tof Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualifed because it also had “frm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in - *Fee Waiver* - Fee Waiver Requested: No - Fee Waiver Reason: - *Expedited Processing* - Expedited Processing Requested: No - Expedited Processing Reason:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request datedJanuary 23, 2018 for records in the custody of the National Archives andRecords Administration (NARA). You requested access to Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) case file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A regarding John C.Boger. Your request was received in this office on January 24, 2018 andassigned reference number *RD 55895*.

We examined case file number 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A. Based on our review,however, this file is deemed unresponsive to your request. The subject ofthe file is the Communist Party USA – International Relations. It wascompiled between the years 1945 and 1980 and consists of approximately9,000 pages within 40 sections. The vast majority of the file consists ofnewspaper clippings. We did not see John C. Boger’s name in the file whenwe examined it. It is possible that his name is mentioned in the file butthe information would probably not be substantial. As such, we will not bereviewing case file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A in response to your request.

We regret that we could not assist you further. This concludes theprocessing of your request in this office. If you have additionalquestions concerning your request, please contact me directly via email atjennifer.namsiriwan@nara.gov.

We do not consider this response to be a denial of your request under theterms of the FOIA because we have determined that the requested case fileis not pertinent to your subject of interest. However, if you considerthis to be a denial of your request, you have the right to file anadministrative appeal within ninety (90) calendar days from the date ofthis letter via regular U.S. mail or email. By filing an appeal, youpreserve your rights under FOIA and give the agency a chance to review andreconsider your request and the agency’s decision. If you submit yourappeal in writing, please address it to the Deputy Archivist of the UnitedStates (ND), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 AdelphiRoad, College Park, Maryland 20740. Both the letter and the envelopeshould be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” If yousubmit your appeal by email, please send it to FOIA@nara.gov, alsoaddressed to the Deputy Archivist of the United States. Please be sure toexplain why you believe this response does not meet the requirements of theFOIA. All correspondence should reference your internal case trackingnumber *RD 55895*.

If you would like to discuss our response before filing an appeal toattempt to resolve your dispute without going through the appeals process,you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison, Martha Wagner Murphy, forassistance at:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 19, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #NARA-NGC-2018-000249.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 19, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #NARA-NGC-2018-000249.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for contacting the Office of Government Information Services. This is an auto reply message.

If you requested our assistance with resolving a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dispute and have not done so already, please send us a brief description of your dispute and copies of your FOIA request, the agency’s response to your request, your appeal letter (if you filed an appeal), and the agency's response to your appeal (if received a response).

Send these documents to OGIS by email, fax, or mail. Our contact information is below in the signature block.

Due to an increased demand for our services, there may be a delay in our response. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you.

Thank you for your email requesting the status of FOIA request with theFOIAonline tracking number NARA-NGC-2018-000249. I searched that numberin our FOIAonline account and in our internal FOIA log, and could not findit. I think this is because the case was exported out of FOIAonline sinceyou were requesting records that might be archival (an FBI file). I seefrom the email chain you sent that your request was referred to ResearchServices, Special Access and FOIA and was assigned tracking number RD55895. It appears from their response that the FBI file number you gavethem did not match the person or topic you were looking for.

I also noticed that you have also sent a request today to OGIS, the FOIAObudsman.

We cannot give a status update for a case already responded to by SpecialAccess. If you have asked OGIS for assistance on this request handled bySpecial Access, then you need to contact OGIS directly:ogis@nara.govPhone: 202-741-5770Fax: 202-741-5769

If you have appealed the response by Special Access to the DeputyArchivist, then we need your assigned Appeal tracking number to give you astatus update.

I will be out of the office next week. If you need further informationfrom our office, please contact Jodi Foor at Jodi.Foor@nara.gov on Monday,August 27, 2018.

Subject: Out of the Office RE: Freedom of Information Act Request #NARA-NGC-2018-000249

Email

I will be out of the office the week of August 27, 2018. I will respond to your email when I return on September 4, 2018. If you have a FOIA inquiry, please email Thank you. foia@nara.gov. (mailto:foia@nara.gov)--

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 19, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #NARA-NGC-2018-000249.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

Subject: Out of the Office RE: Freedom of Information Act Request #NARA-NGC-2018-000249

Email

I will be out of the office on September 28 and October 1, 2018. I will respond to your email when I return on October 2, 2018. If you have a FOIA inquiry, please email Thank you. foia@nara.gov. (mailto:foia@nara.gov) -- Susan Gillett Government Information Specialist Office of General Counsel National Archives and Records Administration College Park, MD 20740-6001 301-837-3409 susan.gillett@nara.gov

Please see my email to you of August 24, 2018. It explains that yourrequest was exported out of FOIAonline, and referred to the ResearchServices, Special Access and FOIA office because you were requesting an FBIfile. That office assigned you tracking number RD 55895, and answered yourrequest. They told you that they could find no records concerning JohnBoger using the file number you gave. If you do not understand theirresponse, you need to contact that office directly using the contactinformation below:

I appreciate your condescending response! Now could I get a response to my query on August 29th? You promised a response on September 4th. According to my notes, that was <checks calendar> exactly one month ago.

Your email of August 29, 2018 started off with this sentence: " This is afollow up to request number NARA-NGC-2018-000249:" So I thought we hadalready answered this.I went back today to look at this, and saw this question further down youremail: " What request did I send to OGIS on the 24th?" If this is what youare looking for an answer to, then look further down in the email chain ofyour August 29 email and you will see an automated reply to you from OGISthat is dated August 24. OGIS is a separate office from our office anddoes not process FOIA requests. Hopefully this answers your question.

I don't believe I sent OGIS a query on this request. There is an auto-response, but it doesn't include the email I supposedly sent. You still haven't answered my question, nor addressed your failure to respond on the date you promised. Regardless, I'm clearly wasting my time with you, and wasting your time by expecting an actual answer to my query. Consider this request closed, and if possible, please have someone other than yourself process my requests from now on.

I am appealing the decision to not It review case file 100-HQ-3 Sub file 81-A, the file that I explicitly requested, on the basis of the analyst's decision that it "probably" would not have what I'm actually interested in despite being literally the exact file that I requested and my having documentation from the FBI that the file IS, in fact, responsive to the materials that NARA declares "probably" isn't in there and falsely assumes is my only interest in the file.

This is to advise you that on October 22, 2018, we received on behalf ofthe Deputy Archivist of the United States, your administrative appeal datedOctober 15, 2018 that you submitted by U.S. Mail. You are appealing thedetermination of the Office of Research Services, Special Access and FOIAin RD55895, concerning FBI file 100-HQ-3, Sub file 81-A. Your appeal hasbeen assigned tracking number NGC19-004A.

The Deputy Archivist of the United States has the responsibility toadjudicate such appeals. In an attempt to afford each appellant equal andimpartial treatment, we have adopted a general practice of assigningappeals in the approximate order of receipt. As stated above, your appealhas been assigned number NGC19-004A. Please provide this number in anyfuture correspondence to this office regarding this matter. Please note,if you provided an e-mail address or another electronic means ofcommunication with your appeal, this office may respond to youelectronically even if you submitted your appeal via regular U.S. PostalService.

We will notify you of the decision on your appeal as soon as we can. Ifyou have any questions about the status of your appeal, you may contact usat *foia@nara.gov <foia@nara.gov>*.